Furniture Standards

The objective of standardization is to ensure that all furniture available in the market is safe to use and of solid and strong construction. Therefore, standardization is helpful in facilitating market conformance, including from developing countries. However, there is also a risk that standards may become a constraint for market access or put small producers at a disadvantage when the requirements are particularly difficult to meet. Manufacturers normally use the standards voluntarily in their product development, process control and marketing. Having a common language on test methods, dimensions, safety and strength characteristics is considered a major benefit.
There are over 140 furniture-related standards and labeling requirements in the United States and Canada alone. Most standards are voluntary but some are regulated by the state or federal laws. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) is responsible for the harmonization of standardization in the European Union. Their EN standards on furniture are not meant to serve for protectionist aims. On the contrary, they are proposed as a basis for wider international work on furniture standards under the ISO/TC 136 “Furniture”. (International Organization for Standardization.)
The national standards institutions in the developing countries are either ISO members, ISO correspondents or ISO subscribers. Their capabilities to implement ISO are often weak. Only few countries have certification bodies, which can issue certificates of compliance with ISO 7173 standards (chair standards for strength and durability), for example. The furniture industry itself should support efforts to establish adequate national standardization institutions and certification bodies.
The Pakistani industry indicated that only the holders of ISO 9001 standard are able to export furniture. ISO 9001 is a broad quality management standard, which is not product-specific. The SESSI Standard from France is said to be followed by some furniture manufacturers. SESSI is not issuing standards, so this is possibly a misinterpretation of the French buyers’ specifications. French industries are quite strict in their requirements as far as standards are concerned. Moreover, they often require the respect of “French Standards” (NF Ameublement), although European standards (EN) at the moment have substituted almost all the national standards.